The Director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, today attended the “Larra-Larrau International Cycling March”, which was held in the Navarrese town of Isaba. This march is part of the “Biodiversity Foundation Cycling Circuit”, which this institution develops in collaboration with the magazine Ciclismo a fondo.

The Biodiversity Foundation collaborates for the first time in the “Cycling Tourism Circuit” of the magazine Ciclismo a fondo, which this year celebrates its thirteenth edition. The objective is to promote environmentally friendly cycling and to raise awareness among the population about the use of bicycles as a traditional means of transport that has its future in a modern world as it is healthy, efficient and non-polluting. This participation allows all the activities carried out around the Circuit, which is being held from last April to next October, to benefit biodiversity, the environment and sustainable development in general.

As a result of this collaboration, a contest has been convened where all the marches of the “Biodiversity Foundation Cycling Tourism Circuit” will participate. The cycling event that presents in its final report the best environmental protection program, developed throughout 2008, will receive the “Cycling and Nature Conservation” award, which will be awarded by the Biodiversity Foundation.

The “Larra-Larrau International Cycling Tour”, which begins and ends its route in the Navarrese municipality of Isaba, has celebrated its XV edition this year. It is worth highlighting the passage through the Puerto de Larrau, a port in the Western Pyrenees and an emblematic point of this walk, which has been climbed by the two slopes. This 145-kilometre route has 3,380 metres of elevation gain in five passes and has had the participation of a thousand cyclists.